Skincare 101: Layering

Let’s talk about how to properly execute our skincare routines and get the most out of our products!

OK, so first things first:

• 1. Cleanse
• 2. Exfoliate (a couple times a week!)
• 3. Tone (optional)
• 4. Serum*
• 5. Moisturize
• 6. Oil (optional) – PM
• 7. Sunscreen – AM

Some of you are not executing a 6-7 step skincare routine, and if you’re doing the simple 4 step routine I posted about earlier, that is totally fine! We are all on our own journeys. But since we all seem to have a little more time to dedicate to our routines these days, I want to make sure that we are executing them correctly and not wasting that nice government stimmy money on products that aren’t being used correctly.

*Serums are usually where people start to get a little tripped up. There are different types of serums that target different concerns and conditions. Hydrating, exfoliating, and pigment-focused serums are all great and beneficial for the skin. What you don’t want to do is use your 6 serums every night. The more you layer, the less efficacy your serums are going to have, and then you’ll be paying all of this money and spending a ton of time on your routine with little to show for it. 

Antioxidant and hydrating serums are great to use during the day, but they can be used day and/or night. They help protect against free radicals from the sun and keep your skin nice and plump. Active serums (read: exfoliating) should be used primarily at night. These are going to be your retinols, and anything that says “resurfacing” which will include your glycolic, salicylic, lactic, and mandelic acids and so on. Some of you have heard me say before that when applying serums, you always want to make sure that your skin is damp. I have specifically said this when talking about hyaluronic acid, but it goes for all hydrating serums. For active serums, it is best to apply to dry skin. 

 SO if you do want to use both hydrating and active serums within the same regimen, apply your active serums to dry skin first. Let that soak into the skin for a minute, and then dampen your skin with a little bit of water or mist, and apply your hydrating serum. If you reverse these two and apply hydrating first, you may pull the active deeper into the skin, and that can lead to unwanted reactions.

You can layer and cocktail your serums, although I do suggest that if you’re using a retinal or spot treatment, to only layer. Now back to my finger shake above on how many layers you want to do – 3 serums at a time, tops. All products and ingredients have specific molecule sizes and honestly your skin can only take in so much. Once you really go over 3, those products can’t be absorbed by your skin well and it’s just a waste, especially since serums are usually you’re highest priced products. 

Mentioning molecule size is a great pivot into that optional, but second to last step in your routine: oils. Oils are going to have the largest molecule size of any product you put onto your skin – regardless of how thin it feels compared to a moisturizer – and should always be applied last, because nothing is going to be able to penetrate and have efficacy if put on top of an oil. We want to layer from thinnest to thickest, and smallest molecule size to largest, in order to get the most out of our products!

Questions? Drop them below!